Climate and your Health: California Version

CLIMATE

and your

HEALTH

Carbon is the building block of life

CHOCOLATE BUTTER

ALCOHOLSTARCH

Everything that was ever alive has carbon in it.

Burning releases the carbon into the air as carbon dioxide

Twice as much CO2 as the earth can handle

…. a blanket which traps the heat of the sun.

Evidence

THE ESSENTIALS

AIR

WATER

FOOD

SAFE PLACE

Case One

9 year old athlete turns into couch potato

GROUND LEVEL OZONE

AMERICAN LUNG ASSOCIATION GAVE MERCED COUNTY AN “F”

Ozone travels. Not just an urban problem.

Ozone Causes and Worsens Asthma

Thurston GD Am J Respir Crit Care Med RMcConnell Lancet.304):386-91.February 1, 1997 vol. 155 no. 2654-660

Inh

aler

Use

3 Sports = Triple Risk

Ozone ppb

CHRONIC OZONE EXPOSURE AND PEDIATRIC ASTHMA ADMISSIONS

Ozone Kills Old People with Chronic Diseases

OZONE LEVEL

DE

AT

HS

Ziska, L. H. and F. A. Caulfield. Australian Journal of Plant Physiology, 2000. 27: 893− 898.

PollenHigher Count Longer Season

Mold

US Childhood Asthma RatesTripled 1960-2009

L Akinbami, 2009 National Center for Health Statistics

Fine Particulates During Wildfires

Increased hospitalizations

Decreased Birth Weight

DIOXINSBrain Damage and Cancer

65 year old man with cough for 3 months

CLUE

Endemic (always there) Areas by Skin Test

Valley Fever (Coccidiodomycosis)

and Dust Storms

Valley Fever 2001-2011

1 month old baby turning blue

CLUE

NITRATES: Blue Baby Syndrome Methemoglobinemia

NITRATE CONTAMINATION OF GROUNDWATER

Poor Plant Uptake=More Nitrate Runoff

Arsenic

Low Birth Weight

Neonatal Infections

Abnormal Gene Expression

Cancers

Dust Storm Owens Valley, CA

30 tons arsenic/yearPublic Water Systems Violating EPA Standard

A “run” on diarrhea medicine

CLUE

Sewer Overflows > 1,000 gallonsMarch 2013-March 2014

http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/water_issues/programs/sso/sso_map/sso_pub.shtml

Gastroenteritis and RainfallPediatric ED Visits Wisconsin

Leptospirosis

BLUE GREEN ALGAE BLOOMS

BLUE GREEN ALGAE TOXIC EXPOSURE

Microcystin Trihalomethane

PRIMARY AMOEBIC MENINGOENCEPHALITIS(PAM)

STATES WHERE PAM HAS OCCURRED

NEW: Minnesota 2010, Kansas 2011, Indiana 2012

60 year old Latino man with abdominal pain and weight loss

CLUE

LIVER CANCER and LATINOS

US Liver Cancer Rates by Age and Ethnicity

US Rates of Fatty Liver Disease by Ethnicity

Fungal Toxins in Grain Crops 2012

Carcinogenic

Hepatotoxic

Teratogenic

Immunosuppressive

Concentrated by Placenta

Transmitted in Breast Milk

AFLATOXIN

Aflatoxin Biomarkers and Risk Factors for Hepatocellular Carcinoma

RISK FACTORS ODDS of CANCER

+ Aflatoxin Biomarker Alone 7

Chronic Hepatitis B or C 7-28

+ Aflatoxin + Chronic Viral Hepatitis 60

Fatty Liver Hepatitis alone 3-16

+ Aflatoxin + Fatty Liver ?

10% OF US KIDS & 40% OF OBESE US KIDS

HAVE FATTY LIVER

Aflatoxin Biomarkers Highest in Latinos NHANES 1999-2000

Schleicher, 2013

Nutritional Effects of Drought

2011-2013 Price Increases

Algal Toxins in Shellfish

San Mateo, CA

PRE 1972

PRESENT

INCREASE IN COASTAL TOXIC ALGAE BLOOMS

Shellfish Poisoning

Paralytic Amnesic

VIBRIOInfections more than doubled 1998-

2010

68 year old man unable to walk

West Nile Virus Infected Mosquitos

Dengue 1960 2005

DENGUE CASES IN THE AMERICAS 1980-2010

Chagas Disease

68 year old woman with confusion and seizures

EXTREME HEATEurope 2003- 70,000 deaths

2006 HEAT WAVE CARelative Risk of ER Visit Compared with Seasonal Average

HEAT ILLNESS IN CHILDHOOD

Student AthletesPremature births

HEAT AND DROUGHT INCREASE VIOLENCE

30 year heat waves will be every year by 2040

Merced County Days per Year 102+ Degree F

Now 7 2040 19 2070 37 2100 56

+ 2-3 DEGREES

BY 2030

+ 4-6 DEGREES

BY 2050

Carbon Dioxide Is (pretty much) Forever.

Hu

nd

reds

ThousandsTens of Thousands

YEARS TO REMOVE CO2 FROM ATMOSPHERE

EMERGENCY

2030

40% OBESE

44% CV DISEASE

1 in 5 DIABETES

2050 1 in 2 OBESITY AND CV DISEASE, 1 in 3 DIABETES

ME EITHER

HEART DISEASE, OBESITY, DIABETES; CANCERS:PROSTATE, COLON, UTERUS, RECURRENT BREAST

ONE THIRD

CAUSED BY

PHYSICAL INACTIVITY

SEDENTARY LIFESTYLE:

AIR POLLUTION: ASTHMA, CANCER, HEART DISEASE

UNHEALTHY DIET: HEART DISEASE, CANCER, DIABETES, OBESITY

LOW CARB(ON) DIET

IN HALF BY 2030 IN HALF AGAIN BY 2050HOW MUCH? HOW FAST?

CAN WE? YES!OVER 1000 US CITIES LEAD THE WAY

A Healthy Prescription

For Climate Action

CLEAN ELECTRICITYINVEST IN SOLAR, WIND

STOP COAL AND OIL EXPORTS REGULATE POLLUTERS

PUT A PRICE ON CARBON

IMPROVE ENERGY EFFICIENCY

BUILDINGS FUEL ECONOMY CLEAN FUELS

20,000 Heart Attacks PREVENTED 23,000 Deaths each year

SAVED: OVER 100 BILLION DOLLARS PER YEAR

GET CITY PEOPLE OUT OF THEIR CARSSMART GROWTH

BIKEWAYS AND WALKWAYSBETTER PUBLIC TRANSIT

10,000 colon cancers215,000 heart attacks PREVENTED570,000 new diabetes cases each year

ANNUAL SAVINGS SF AREA $1.4-22 BILLION/YEAR

HEALTHY FARMS & HEALTHY FOODSSUBSIDIZE SOIL CARBON

SUBSIDIZE CROP DIVERSITYDECREASE FOOD WASTETURN WASTE TO ENERGY

300,000 Heart Attacks/Strokes PREVENTED260,000 New Diabetes Cases each year144,000 Cancer Deaths

A Strong Majority of Americans Want Climate Action

Congresspeople paid by fossil fuel companies don't.

A healthy high quality futureis within our reach

HEALTHY PEOPLE = HEALTHY PLANET

www.climate911.org